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Bill banning concealed guns on campus advances; GOP bill delayed

Hearings on several gun bills will occupy Colorado legislators and spectators at the Capitol on Feb. 13, 2013. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

A Democratic gun bill banning concealed weapons on college campuses cleared a House committee on Wednesday while another piece of legislation to charge gun buyers for background checks still awaited action.

It was the second day in row at the Capitol that Democratic gun control legislation continued unimpeded over the objections of firearms rights activists who have packed hearing rooms.

The House Education Committee approved the measure, House Bill 1226, on a 7-6 party line vote, and the bill now heads to the House Appropriations Committee before it can go to the full House.

"Guns and college students don't mix," said Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, the sponsor of the bill. "Do we really want to give guns to binge-drinking college students?"

Students representing the University of Colorado-Boulder's student government also testified in favor of the bill, saying they were "concerned and distressed by the presence of concealed weapons" on campus.

"We need a safe environment to learn," said Tyler Quick, a senior from Westminster.

But Republicans on the House Education Committee challenged Levy's assertions that guns wouldn't make campuses safer.

Levy, though, asserted that "college campuses are the safest place to be in this country," though not with concealed weapons in the hands of students.

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But Rep. Kevin Priola, R-Henderson, said the bill would send the message to would-be killers that "a college e campus is the place you want to go if you want to be unopposed."

Opponents included the County Sheriffs of Colorado. Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith, in whose county the main Colorado State University lies, said the bill was essentially asking people to be on the "honor system" with their guns.

As someone who runs a jail, Smith said, "I can tell you, offenders don't do well with the honor system. That's why we lock the doors."

The Old Supreme Court Chambers, where the hearing took place, was packed with gun rights supporters, though not as many as the day before, when a Democratic-controlled committee passed two bills requiring background checks for private gun sales and restricting the number of rounds in gun magazines.

On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee approved the two gun bills after a marathon session that attracted hundreds of witness, required an overflow hearing room and lasted late into the night.

In addition to the concealed weapons on campus bill, another Democratic bill up Wednesday requires gun customers to pay for their own background checks.

A bill that was to be heard Wednesday is an attempt to stave off enforcement of new federal regulations, including 23 executive orders President Obama signed in January. Senate Bill 140 by Sen. Vicki Marble of Fort Collins was scheduled to be heard by the Senate, State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee but was postponed.

The majority of current Democratic bills were inspired by mass murders at a movie theater in Aurora in July, and at a Connecticut elementary school in December.

But the campus measure had been in the works before that, after the Colorado Supreme Court in March 2012 ruled that concealed-weapons permit holders could carry on campus.

The Colorado legislature in 2003 passed the Concealed Carry Act, which states a person with a permit may carry a concealed weapon "in all areas of the state," except for a narrow list of exceptions, such as federal properties and K-12 schools.

The law didn't include colleges, and three University of Colorado students sued in 2008 in a case that went all the way to the state Supreme Court, which unanimously ruled the CU Board of Regents overstepped its authority by banning permitted concealed weapons on campuses.

Martha Altman, one of the three students who filed the lawsuit against CU, said students who are eligible for a concealed-carry permit should be able to carry guns on campuses

Wednesday afternoon the House Finance Committee will hear HB 1228 by Rep. Lois Court, D-Denver, which requires gun customers to pay a $10 fee to pay for their background check by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Currently, taxpayers cover the costs of those background checks.

The legislature previously has considered passing the costs onto gun customers to help deal with budget woes, but even some Democrats fought the idea.

But the explosion of gun sales starting in November has created such that CBI has asked for more money, prompting a renewed interest in passing on the costs.

Rep. Brian DelGrosso, R-Loveland, who sits on the Finance Committee, is against the bill.

"I'm opposed to what amounts to a poll tax, charging people to exercise their Second Amendment rights," he said.

The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved by HB 1229, by Reps. Rhonda Fields of Aurora and Beth McCann of Denver. The measure requires background checks for private gun sales and transfers. The committee also approved HB-1224 by Fields, which bans high-capacity ammunition magazines of more than 15 rounds.

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